Gas prices, firefighters and volunteers. It's a recipe for legislative success, right? Not when you are in the dog days of summer in a general election year. Nonetheless, Sen. Bob Casey and Rep. Jason Altmire, both Democrats, hailed a bill they introduced Wednesday that touches on all three.

The two lawmakers want to lessen the pain of high gas prices on volunteer firefighters by offering federal grants to help them recoup the costs.

Casey laid it on in particularly dramatic terms to get his point across at a news conference today, where he was flanked by six volunteer fire fighters from Pennsylvania.

"In the dark of night and the middle of winter ... we want to make sure that that fire truck has enough gasoline to get to that fire," Casey said. "This is serious business for the people of Pennsylvania and the people across America."

One firefighter, Bill Carlisle of Fairview Township in York County, said his department's fuel costs have more than doubled to $25,000 this year, meaning that many more bake sales are needed to raise cash.

Casey said he has discussed the bill -- which he estimated would cost $50 million annually -- with Senate leadership and he is hoping to include the measure in any energy package that comes up this year.